Brick-handling tongs.



W. STURM, SR-

BRICK HANDLING TONGS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 18. 1914.

Patented Sept. 14, 1915.

rarer one.

. BRICK-HANDLING TDNGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 14, rare.

Application filed September 18, 1914. Serial 0. 862,286.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM STURM, Sr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Brick-Handling Tongs, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to brick handling tongs.

Prominent objects of the invention are to provide a simple and practical construction of brick handling tongs; to arrange for the easy adjustment of the same to handle a greater or less number of bricks or similar articles; to prevent pinching or otherwise injuring the fingers of the party handling the device; and to secure the foregoing and other desirable results in a simple and expeditious manner.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a side elevation of a brick handling tongs embodying my present invention; Figs. 2 and 3 are cross sections taken on lines 22 and 8-3, respectively, in Fig. 1; and F ig. 4 is a View partly in longitudinal section and partly in elevation of the right hand end of the machine as shown in Fig. 1.

Referring'to the drawings, I show a brick handling tongs involving a central horizontally arranged member 1, and vertically disposed end members 2 and 3. The member 1 is preferably in the form of a tube or pipe. The member 2 is preferably provided by the downwardly extending end portion of a member 4 conveniently in the form of a cylindrical rod or bar which fits into the open end 1 of the tubular member 1. The pipe or tubular member 1 is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 5 and a ring 6 is mounted loosely upon said member 1 so as to be able to slide back and forth longitudinally of said member 1. A handle 7 is provided with a screw threaded shank 8 which fits into a socket portion 9 on said ring 6, said shank 8 being adapted to enter the slot 5 so that its end may come into contact with the bar or rod 4 arranged within said member 1. Said bar or rod 4 is preferably provided with a recess or indentation 10, into which the end of said shank 8 may fit. Thus it will be seen that by turning the handle 7 its shank 8 may be engaged or thrown out of engagement with the bar or rod 4, and

that when in engagement with said bar or rod 4 said handle may be turned sufiiciently to clamp the bar or rod 4 firmly in position in the tubular member 1, and thereby in effect lock said bar or rod 4 and the end member 2 thereof firmly in position. A small amount of turning movement on the part of the handle 7, however, causes sufiicient loosening of the bar or rod 4 in the member 1 to permit said bar or rod 4 to be slid lengthwise within said member 1 and in this way an adjustment of the bar or rod 4 and its grasping member or finger 2 may be adposted to any desired point within the range of adjustment of the instrument. The member 3 at the other end of the device is formed as the lower portion of a handle member 11 which is pivoted at 12 to the end of the member 1. The more or less'horizontally arranged portion of said member 11 forms a handle which may be grasped and elevated by the hand of the operator and in so doing the finger or grasping portion 3 is swung toward the member 2, thereby causing an engagement and frictional holding of the bricks or other articles to be lifted by the device. When this engagement takes place a further elevation of the handle 11 will permit the whole device together with the arti cles it is grasping to be lifted and transported as desired. The member 11 is desirably provided with a shoulder 14, (Fig. 4) whereby said handle 11 when released and allowed to drop downwardly will be held from dropping entirely down to contact with the member 1, the shoulder 14 striking a corner or shoulder portion 15 at the end of the member 1. Thus the hands of the operator of the tongs are protected from being pinched or injured. v

It will be understood that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A device of the class specified comprising a tubular member having a longitudinal slot, a bar or rod arranged within said tubular member and having a laterally extending grasping portion, and a ring arranged to slide upon said tubular member and having a handle provided with a shank adapted to extend through the slot in said tubular mem ber and engage said rod or bar.

2. A device of the class specified comprising in combination, a tubular member having a longitudinal slot, a rod or bar arranged Within said tubular member and hav- In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe ing a projecting end provided with a latermy name this 10th day of September, A. D., ally extending grasping portien, and means 191.4.

for engaging said rod or bar extending WILLIAM STURM, Sn. 5 through said slot, saidmeans having a han- Witnesses:

die and a threaded shank connected with A. LYDA JONES,

said handle and extending through said slot. HAZEL A. JONES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

I v Washingtpn, D. 0. 

